© GRETA DE LAZZARIS
Cohen Media Group has acquired the North American distribution rights to the critically acclaimed Italian movie, “Io Capitano,” Variety is reporting. The acquisition comes after the project was chosen to be the Italian entry for Best International Feature Film at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards.
Sold worldwide by Pathé Films, the immigration drama is slated to be released theatrically in the U.S. in early 2024. The project’s North American distribution comes after it competed for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.
Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone co-wrote, helmed and produced Io Capitano. His work on the project was honored with the Silver Lion at the Venice-based festival.
With Cohen Media Group picking up the rights for the feature’s North American distribution, Io Capitano has strengthened its position in the awards season.
The movie immediately started receiving its critical acclaim when it world premiered in September in Venice. After its premiere, the drama received a 13-minute standing ovation. In addition to the Silver Lion for Garrone, the film also won the best emerging actor award for its lead star, Seydou Sarr.
Io Capitano later went on to win the best European film award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. The project is also competing for the best film and director awards at the European Film Awards this weekend.
Reminiscent of Slumdog Millionaire, Io Capitano chronicles the epic story of a teenage boy who, with his cousin, decides to leave Dakar in Senegal and travel to Europe. Embarking on an difficult journey, the young man must overcome a series of obstacles. Those challenges range from the plight of the desert to the horrors of detention centers in Libya and the dangers of the sea.
The movie was shot over 13 weeks in Senegal, Italy and Morocco with a cast of non-professional actors. Through the actors’ performances, the drama explores the ambiguities and contradictions of human beings. The main characters’ hopes, dreams and ambitions of the main characters ultimately turn into a struggle for survival. Due to the film’s humanist message, the feature received a special screening at the European Union parliament last month.
Besides Io Capitano, Garrone is best known for co-penning and directing Gomorrah, an organized crime saga. The 2008 drama was chosen to represent Italy in contention for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards.
The movie’s Oscar consideration came after it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
Garrone went on to co-scribe Io Capitano with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri. The writers based the screenplay on true stories of emigration from Africa to Europe.
While discussing the movie, Cohen Media Group’s Robert Aaronson said: “Io Capitano is a major cinematic achievement from a master director, a film that shines a light on the very real dramas playing out in the world today.”
Charles S. Cohen, chairman and CEO of Cohen Media Group, added: “Matteo Garrone’s powerful film is a testament to human endurance — and to cinema’s ability to make individuals’ struggles the concern of us all.
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Cohen Media Group’s North American acquisition of the drama was negotiated by Aaronson and Marie-Laure Montironi, executive VP of international sales at Pathé. Montironi said Pathé is “confident that the film has found the ideal home to become both a success in the U.S. and a serious Oscar contender, and will go as far as possible considering the fantastic audience response we have witnessed in the previous weeks.” The executive noted that Cohen Media Group was a “high-quality distributor of foreign films for North America.”